Tokyo, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese and Turkish governments will open Turkish-Japanese Science and Technology University, or TJU, in Ankara in October to train experts who can play core roles in fields such as artificial intelligence and earthquake disasters. Japan aims to develop educational, scientific and technological cooperation with Turkey into a strategic partnership that includes security. Turkey lies at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The Japanese Foreign Ministry calls it “a geopolitically important large country in the region.” The country is a member of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging countries and is traditionally friendly to Japan. The establishment of TJU was agreed in 2013 by then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, currently president. The two countries initially aimed to develop human resources for nuclear power generation at the university. But the focus shifted after Japanese companies abandoned plans to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey. After some hitches over the selection of its site, the university will open 13 years after the agreement. The opening ceremony will be held at the university Oct. 14. Japanese scientist Ryoji Noyori, who won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is among the members of the University Council, which will run TJU. In the first year, the institute will offer doctoral programs in AI digital technology and earthquake disaster science for about 20 students and four-year undergraduate engineering programs in areas such as environment and materials science for about 80 students. Classes will be taught in English. Japanese language study will be compulsory. Master’s programs are set to start in October next year. The number of students at the university is expected to reach about 800 by 2035. The university will collaborate with the Institute of Science Tokyo, the University of Tsukuba and the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute in joint research projects. The institutes in Japan will accept TJU students. TJU is expected to send human resources to the Turkish government and companies. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with President Erdogan in New York on Tuesday. They agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the fields of education, economy and defense, bearing in mind the opening of TJU. “We can keep strengthening the (bilateral) economic and security ties in the future by contributing to Turkey’s development through human resources training,” a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
